Veganist_ Lose Weight, Get Healthy, Change the World - Kathy Freston [25]
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“Stents may be lifesaving during a heart attack, but they do not prevent future heart attacks or prolong life.”
—Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
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Some drugs may decrease blood pressure and the heart workload. Others interfere with clotting, which helps a stent remain open. Statin drugs lower cholesterol. None of these drugs or interventions addresses the basic causation of disease, and not surprisingly, the disease progresses with the need for more drugs, stents, and repeat bypasses.
KF: Why aren’t physicians using nutrition therapy?
CE: Most physicians have no training or understanding of the power of nutrition. In a busy practice they would not have the time for it. It is my belief that physicians must accord the plant-based lifestyle transition its due. Every patient with cardiovascular disease should be referred to a physician or nurse practitioner with the knowledge and expertise in these counseling skills.
KF: Any final thoughts?
CE: When people learn to eat plant-based, to eliminate heart disease, it could inaugurate a seismic revolution in their overall health. Other diseases that resolve include obesity, hypertension, stroke, gallstones, diverticulitis, asthma, osteoporosis, allergies, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, lupus, and studies have shown a marked decrease in the common Western cancers of breast, prostate, colon, endometrial, ovarian, and pancreatic.
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“Plant-based eating could inaugurate a seismic revolution in health.”—Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn
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Now you know how heart disease happens from a medical viewpoint. Here is one man’s personal story. Actually, it’s three stories woven into one.
Robert Dew’s Story: Reversing the Family Heart-Attack Pattern
For the record, this is a portion of my family’s health history:
Great-uncle: deceased at 45. Cause: heart attack.
Grandfather: deceased. Cause: heart attack.
Grandmother: deceased. Cause: stroke.
Great-grandfather: deceased. Cause: heart attack.
Mother: deceased. Cause: congestive heart failure.
Father: living with two triple bypasses, two pacemakers, and congestive heart failure.
That’s how my family stories end. We all die of heart attacks and strokes. But every story has a beginning, too…
I recall a set of stemware from my childhood—a nice set of sturdy, faceted goblets. They were obtained courtesy of a well-known peanut butter manufacturer. The peanut butter came off the shelf in special glasses, sealed with a pry-off lid. Our set was a result of my eating countless spoons of it in front of the TV. We had an even dozen. I would have been pleased to supply a dozen more, but the promotion ended.
I had another food treat, this one invented by my dad. He would sit down to watch a football game with a stick of butter, a packet of saltines, and a bottle of ginger ale. He scraped out a furrow of butter onto the cracker and downed the thing in one bite. Every two or three of these were washed down with ginger ale. I loved it too. By halftime, the butter, crackers, half a jar of peanut butter, and a quart of ginger ale were gone. We were eagerly consuming the three main food groups in the American Food Pyramid: sugar, grease, and salt.
I did eat other things. I loved breakfast; listening to bacon and eggs talk to me as they cooked in the same pan. Grits had to be consumed with a ton of butter, salt, and pepper. Hamburgers were my favorite food. I always took off the lettuce and tomato and gave the pickle to my wife. I could not pass a hamburger stand without wanting to stop for double fries and triple burgers. When I cooked burgers on the grill (which was often) I always made an extra rare and greasy one to eat while I was cooking the rest. I did like broccoli, as long as it was rendered unrecognizable, swimming